Fallout
by pikapikatchu
Summary: Greg's worst nightmare comes to life when he learns that Neil Novak has escaped from prison. Will the psychopath get a chance to hurt Greg? Follows the events of 'Backstabber' and 'Ex'
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! New story arrived :) This one will (hopefully) answer all the unanswered questions the previous stories raised. I hope you enjoy it, I really put a lot of effort in this story and hope you'll all be pleased with it! **

**Have fun!**

**Big love, pikapikatchu**

* * *

Three weeks have passed since Matthew Willis was found dead with a note for Greg on him. The note said 'You're welcome, Greg', and the CSIs were trying hard to find the murderer. They didn't make any progress in that case, though. Greg tried not to let this get to him too much, but he did worry about it. Who would murder Willis for him? And why?

"No, just leave it on the desk. I'll do it tomorrow." Greg was talking to Nick on the phone when he walked into his apartment. The phone call distracted him a bit, which caused him to overlook a bottle sitting on his coffee table. He also didn't hear the radio playing at first. "It's not urgent, just let me do it tomorrow and go home. Yeah, I'm sure, I..." He finally noticed. The sensation of fear conquered him and he quickly walked out of the apartment. "Nick... Stay at the lab, I'll be right back."

* * *

"Are you sure?" Nick gave Greg a rather mocking look.

"...Pretty sure. What, you think I hallucinated this? There was a bottle on the table and the radio was on."

"Maybe you forgot to turn off the radio or something." Nick rubbed his eyes. He's pulled a double and was tired.

Greg shook his head. "No. I think someone's been in there..."

Nick sighed. He felt like Greg was overreacting, but given the recent events – Matthew Willis' death – he was willing to believe him. "Alright, let's check it out." As he patted him on the back, Greg moaned in pain. "...Sorry, did I hurt you?"

"Nah," Greg said with a painful smile on his face. "It's just my back..."

Nick nodded. "Maybe a doctor should check it out."

Greg shook his head. "I'm sure it'll go away. Guess I'm just getting old," he joked.

"You look a little tired."

"I get enough sleep, but I don't wake up rested." He shrugged his shoulder.

Nick figured Greg might be really worried about this. "Okay, after I made sure that there are no monsters under your bed, I'm sure you'll get some rest."

* * *

"There, nothing here." Nick inspected Greg's apartment and couldn't find anything unusual.

"...What?" Greg walked over to the coffee table. "...No bottle..."

He raised an eyebrow. "I don't hear any music, Greggo. You're absolutely sure the radio was on when you walked in?"

"Of course I am! …I mean... I heard it."

Nick patted Greg on the shoulder. "I think the sleep deprivation's getting to you."

"It's not deprivation, I..." Greg had a disturbed look on his face.

"Alright..." Nick sighed. "Take this." He handed Greg his gun.

"What? No, Nick, I don't need a gun. I already told you, I..."

"It'll make you sleep better. Just take it. You won't have to use it but it will feel good to know you could if you had to."

* * *

Two days have passed and Nick's trick with the gun didn't seem to have helped Greg get any more sleep. "You look awful, man."

"...Thank you, Nick." Greg rolled his eyes. "Believe it or not, sleeping with a gun only made it worse. I didn't get any sleep. I kept thinking about why I need a gun in the first place and went through all kind of scenarios in my head. Take it back." He took the gun out of his locker and handed it to Nick.

"You only tried two days! Maybe you'll get more comfortable if you..."

"No, I'm serious. I don't want a gun in my home. It's scarier than whatever I might need protection from."

Nick rolled his eyes as he laughed. "Whatever."

"No, I'm serious. I know how to use a gun, but still..." They just came back from a messy scene and both CSIs got their clothes dirty. Back in the locker room, they got changed. When Greg pulled off his shirt, he moaned in pain again. "I have absolutely no idea where this pain comes from... Maybe I need a new mattress."

Nick looked surprised. "I might have an idea."

"Hm?" Greg turned around to look at Nick.

"You got a big nasty bruise on your back, Greg."

"What?" Greg asked puzzled.

"It's long and thick! What happened?"

"I don't know... I don't remember hurting my back." Greg put a clean shirt on and walked with Nick into the evidence room.

"Let me take a closer look," Nick said while grabbing his camera.

"It's fine, Nick. Don't worry about it."

While Nick took a picture, Russell and Brass silently walked in, watching the two.

Nick showed Greg the picture on the camera. "Looks like someone hit you with a stick or something."

Greg rubbed his back thoughtful. "That explains the pain, I guess."

"But where does the bruise come from?"

"I'd remember if someone hit me with a stick, don't you think?" Greg replied sarcastically.

"When did the pain start?" Russell chimed in.

Just now, the two realized they weren't alone in the room. "Three days ago when I woke up."

Brass and Russell shared a look.

"Any chance you're sleepwalking?" Nick asked.

"Not that I know of, I..."

Russell interrupted him. "Would you follow us into my office, please?"

* * *

Nick, Greg and Russell sat down while Brass closed the door. "There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna say it..." Brass cleared his throat. "Last week, Neil Novak escaped out of prison..."

Both Nick and Greg had a shocked look on their faces. The man that almost raped and murdered Greg was free again?

"No, this... how..." Greg sighed. He didn't know what to say. He just sat there, looking around his colleagues rather helpless.

Nick got off his seat angrily. "Last week? And you're telling us only **now**?"

Russell sighed. "They didn't tell us until a few hours ago, when you were still at your crime scene."

"How could this happen?" Nick asked. He felt rather helpless, too.

"We don't know the specifics of his escape yet. We don't know where he is, but we're assuming he's trying to leave the country."

"He won't. He'll finish what he started..." Greg said rather emotionless.

"Greg, I don't think..." Nick wanted to try to make Greg feel better.

"You know I'm right. You know what he said to me..." After a short pause, Greg continued. "I should've talked to him," he mumbled to himself.

"What?" After Nick didn't get an answer, he tried again. "What was that, Greg? Why should you have talked to him?"

Greg just looked on the ground and didn't react, so Brass answered Nick's question. "Novak asked to see Greg again."

"What? When?"

"About a month ago."

"Why would he... and... How come I only hear about this now?"

"I didn't want to annoy you with this," Greg finally started talking again.

"You know you wouldn't have annoyed me. We could've talked about this."

"There was nothing to talk about, Nick. I already made up my mind about it, I didn't want to see him. No need to burden you with this."

Nick shook his head. "You should've talked to me about it." He had an angry, almost disappointed, look on his face. "Matthew Willis, the guy we found with a note that said 'You're welcome, Greg', has that anything to do with Novak?"

"That was three weeks ago, Nick. How could he possibly have anything to do with this?" There was a hint of annoyance in Greg's voice. He was frustrated.

"We can't rule his involvement out just yet, Greg," Russell reckoned. "He might have someone working for him. It was easy for him to get one of the prison guards to work for him and help him attack you, who says he can't make people work for him from inside jail?"

Greg rubbed his eyes. "This can't be happening again..."

Brass and Russell shared a look. "Greg, could you come with us, please?"

Greg got off his seat. He didn't even ask any questions, there was too much going on in his head right now.

"Where are you going?" Nick had a lot of questions, though, and was annoyed that they just left him standing there.

"I need to examine his bruises. You can come with us if it's okay with him." They all looked at him, Greg just nodded, obviously lost in his thoughts again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for your reviews! I'm glad you like the story so far! And to show you how thankful I am, here's chapter 2! Enjoy!**

* * *

"Have there been any weird events in your apartment lately?" Russell asked while taking pictures of Greg's bruised back. "Ever had a weird feeling at home?"

Greg shook his head.

"Wait, of course there have," Nick chimed in. He was leaning against the wall of the evidence room with his arms crossed.

"Like what?" Russell asked while looking over to Nick.

"What about your toothbrush?" Nick asked Greg.

"Don't be ridiculous." Greg shook his head again.

"What's with his toothbrush?" Brass was getting interested, too.

Greg rolled his eyes. "After a night at a bar Henry and Hodges crashed at my place. The next morning, my toothbrush was gone. I'm sure Hodges did it."

"Did you ask him about it?"

"He says it wasn't him, but he was drunk. Who knows what he did, maybe he flushed it down the toilet."

Russell, Nick and Brass shared a look.

"What about your broken car window?" Nick suggested.

Greg shrugged as he put his shirt back on. "I figured Willis did it. Why do you even ask, Russell? And why do you care about the bruises on my back?" While Russell explained that they feared that Novak might be behind this somehow, Nick looked down on the ground. He already figured out what this all was about. Greg would have, too, had he been more concentrated. Greg laughed a bit humorlessly. "So you think Novak or someone he's paying was inside my apartment?" Neither one of them needed to nod or answer that question, the looks on their faces said enough. "That's ridiculous. How could anyone have caused these bruises on my back? Don't you think I would've woken up?"

"How did you feel when you woke up three days ago when you got the bruises?" Russell put the camera away and grabbed an evidence envelope.

He looked a bit confused at the three men. He didn't really understand why this was relevant. "Okay, I guess..."

"Nah, that's not true. You looked horrible yesterday and kept on yawning. You were obviously tired and said you weren't feeling well," Nick corrected his colleague.

Greg gave Nick a look. "Okay, so? I'm a little beat lately, how does that have anything to do with Novak?"

It was obviously hard for Russell to say the following words. "I'm... uh... I'm gonna need to take a few strands of your hair now, Greg..."

Greg jumped off his seat and took a few steps back. "No, that's not necessary."

"Greg..."

"There's no need to, alright? No one's been in my apartment! It's fine!"

"You woke up with bruises on your back, not knowing where they came from. There's a dead body with a dedication note for you... And at least two weird occurrences in your home." Brass cleared his throat. "We have enough reason to believe that someone might've been in your apartment and drugged you." Nobody wanted to say it out loud. They all suspected that. It would be the only explanation for how Greg got those bruises without even noticing. They all hoped they didn't need to say it, but Brass realized it would be the only way to talk Greg to his senses. He didn't feel the need to mention that Novak did something like that before to one of his victims. Greg would find out about that later.

"You also told me two days ago you thought someone's been in there..." Nick had a guilty look on his face. He didn't believe Greg then. Now he wished he would've.

Greg started shaking. The thought that someone had access to his home without him even noticing was bad enough. But the thought that he was drugged and had no idea what this person did to him was even worse. He sat down as he tried real hard to keep himself from crying.

"It's gonna be okay, Greg. He won't even get the chance to hurt you. I won't let that happen." Nick gave him a sweet smile.

* * *

Greg sat at the table in the break room rather thoughtful. He didn't even notice when Nick walked in. "Hey."  
Greg startled a bit. "Hey Nick."

"What'cha thinking about?" Nick walked to the fridge. He tried to act as normal as possible.

"Russell asked me to write everything down I remember. I'm trying to figure out when it all started."

"Any idea?"

"I remember the first time I felt this weird after waking up like it was yesterday..." He sighed.

"Really? When was that?" Nick got something to eat out of the fridge and sat down at the table.

Greg looked at Nick. "The day I woke up in my bed with Spencer."

"No way."

"It was the same feeling as yesterday. And the same as..." Greg stopped himself.

"And what?"

"Nothing..."

"Greg. Have there been other days when you felt like that?"

The look on Greg's face was a mix between sadness and despair. "Two days... But nothing weird happened, I just woke up feeling beat and sick. Almost hungover. But how is it even possible? There is absolutely no sign of forced entry. We must be wrong."

"I sure hope so." Nick smiled, reminding himself of when he had a stalker living in his apartment. There wasn't any sign of forced entry back then, either. "Are you gonna be alright?"

Greg shrugged his shoulder. "I feel violated, you know? There was someone in my apartment and... I don't even want to think about it." Nick nodded. He knew what it felt like to know someone was inside his home, watching him. After a short, rather uncomfortable silence, Greg continued. "Anyways, I have to write everything down for Russell... Weird feeling to let him know about Spencer. I'm not sure he'll understand."

"What are you worried about? He'll understand, I'm sure."

Russell walked in. "Tox screen is back. Henry performed a test on your hair... It was positive for Flunitrazepam."

Greg had prepared himself for this. He knew there was a possibility, but it still hit him like a brick.

"Roofies...? That would explain why you don't even remember being drugged," Nick concluded. "How are we gonna find out who helped Novak?"

"And why? Why would he want to mess with me like that?" It all didn't make sense to Greg. Why would Novak take his toothbrush, undress Spencer and put him in Greg's bed and smash in the window of his car?

* * *

Russell promised Greg that they would find out who was working with Novak and what Novak was planning, but he found it hard to believe Russell. He usually was an optimistic person, but when it came to situations like that, he easily lost hope. He didn't want to waste too much thought about something he couldn't change, though. He had something else on his mind right now.

Nick just came back from a scene and parked his car in the lab's parking lot as he saw Greg walk out of the lab. "Hey," he said as he got out of his car. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere, just... out," Greg replied while walking past his colleague.

"Greg, I don't think it's a good idea for you to..."

Greg interrupted him. "I'm just leaving for half an hour."

"We still don't know where Novak is. I don't think you should..."

"Nick, come on. He's been out of jail for a week and nothing happened."

Nick looked at his watch. "Why don't you wait for me, huh? I'll come with you in an hour, alright?"

Greg rolled his eyes. "You don't have to. I'm meeting Spencer, I think I'll be fine with a cop around... at the police station."

"Him? Why?"

"Why do you think I want to meet him? I feel like an idiot. He kept on assuring me that he had no idea how he ended up in my bed that night and I didn't believe him."

"Can't you just call him or something? E-mail him, maybe?"

Greg gave Nick a smile. "I won't stay inside all day just because of Novak. I know you wouldn't, either."

* * *

Nick had no chance to persuade Greg to stay inside. He met Spencer at the station, but Spencer didn't want to talk about this at the workplace, so they went to get some coffee. "So what is it you wanted to talk about?" Spencer asked while they strolled down the streets. Greg didn't exactly plan to go for a walk with Spencer, but Spencer obviously had other plans.

"Well... I don't know how to say this... Uhm... you remember Neil Novak?" It was hard for Greg to talk about this, he was really embarrassed about how he treated Spencer that day.

"The guy who...? Yeah, I remember. Why?"

"He, uh... He somehow escaped from prison and..."

"What? Oh no!" He gave Greg a long, tight hug. "I'm so sorry, Greg!"

"It's okay... That's actually not what I wanted to talk about..." He slipped out of Spencer's hug. "I owe you an apology."

"Why?"

"The day you woke up in my bed... there's actually an explanation for it."

"...I thought we got that behind us, Greg..."

"No, I need to apologize. It turns out, someone working for Novak somehow drugged us... That's how it happened."

"...What?"

Greg nodded. "You'll have to talk to Russell about that day. They want to find out who did this to us. I'm really sorry..."

"Oh my god, that's... horrible... That's why we felt so weird that day?"

He nodded again. "Are you gonna be alright with this?"

"It's a creepy thought... I mean, that guy even took off my pants, that's... creepy."

Again, Greg nodded. Then, he realized something. Whoever drugged them could have known about the difficult relationship him and Spencer had at that time. Why else would they take his pants off and put him in Greg's bed? He had a weird feeling about Spencer, fearing he might actually be the one working for Novak. "You know... I should head back to the lab and..." Greg was interrupted by a loud bang. "...What the hell was that?" He looked around.

"Greg..." Spencer collapsed into Greg's arms.

"...What...? Spencer, what's wrong?" Blood was running down Spencer's arm. He had been shot in the shoulder.


	3. Chapter 3

**Poor Greg! Can't believe I keep making him go through these awful ordeals! ;) Let's just hope he'll get out of there alive!**

* * *

Nick was sitting in the trace lab, nervously tapping his feet. He waited for some evidence to be processed but, more importantly, waited for Greg to come back.

"Could you stop that?" Hodges said annoyed.

"What?"

"Your feet. It makes me nervous."

"Sorry. I'm just waiting for Greg to come back. He said he'd be out for only half an hour..."

"How long ago did he say that?"

"...35 minutes."

Hodges gave Nick a look. "You got to be kidding me."

"What? There's a pervert out there, probably looking for him. Why am I the only one worried about this?" Nick rolled his eyes.

"I don't know. Maybe because you're the only pessimist around here?"

"It's not pessimistic to be cautious." Nick got a call. "Stokes."

Meanwhile, Hodges printed out the results for Nick's evidence. "Hair dye, just what I thought..." He wanted to hand Nick the sheet, but Nick hopped off his seat and quickly ran out of the lab.

* * *

"Where is he?" Nick ran up to Russell and Brass, sitting in the hospital waiting room.

"In the OR. He's in critical condition, but the doctors are optimistic..." Brass replied with a concerned look on his face.

"What happened?"

"He got shot."

"Him too?" Nick asked confused.

"What do you mean?" Russell asked with raised eyebrows.

"I thought Spencer got shot."

Brass nodded. "He was."

"...And what about Greg?"

"What about him?"

"He was with Spencer, wasn't he?"

"Not that we know of," Russell replied, confused as well. "Have you tried calling him?" At the same moment, Russell's phone rang.

"No, when I received your call I assumed he..." Nick got interrupted by Russell signing with his hand, telling him to be quiet.

He hung up his phone. "Apparently, several witnesses saw a man kidnapping someone when Spencer got shot... The description fits Greg."

Nick sat down next to Brass shocked. "He's got him..."

"We don't know that yet, Nick. We don't know who kidnapped him," Russell tried to comfort his colleague, although he knew as well that Greg was probably with Novak right now.

* * *

When Greg woke up, he was confused, had a headache and felt nauseas. He couldn't recollect what just happened, but slowly understood what was going on as he noticed his hands being tied around a table. He was in this dark, creepy room with nothing in it but a couch and the table he was tied to. He tried to lift the table to slip his shaking hands out of it, but it was a massive table, weighing too much for one person to lift. Still, in his desperation he tried several times, but failed and eventually gave up. He realized there was no way for him to succeed.

"You're up already? It'll be another few hours," someone, sitting on the couch next to Greg, said.

Greg had no idea what the man was talking about, neither who he was. He expected Neil Novak to be here right now. "...What?"

The man handed Greg a bottle of water. "Drink that."

Greg suspected this bottle of water to be spiked with some drugs. Despite being really thirsty, he declined.

"Come on, drink it. I gave you a hell of a dose of the drugs, I don't think it's too healthy to add dehydration to the list." The man spoke in a thick texan accent.

"What kind of drugs?" Greg asked.

"Like you don't already know. You know this ain't the first time."

Greg nodded. "...Who are you?"

The man crossed his legs. "I'm a friend of Neil's. He asked me to bring you here."

Greg sighed deeply and desperate. He had so many questions, he didn't even know where to start. "Where is he?" he asked with a cracked voice.

"Running a little late."

"Were you the one drugging me in my apartment?"

The man grinned a little. "It's nothing personal, alright? Neil asked me to mess with you a little, that's all I did."

Greg had forgotten about what he concluded shortly before Spencer got shot, thanks to the roofies. He figured that whoever drugged them knew about their difficult relationship. Would he still remember, he'd ask the texan about it. "But how? ...And why?"

"How? Well, you shouldn't trust everybody just because you work with them."

"What? I... I don't understand..."

"Doesn't matter. And why? Well, Neil thought it would be fun. And it was." He laughed. "Now drink. It's just water, I swear."

Greg looked warily at the man, but figured it wouldn't matter anymore, anyway. He sipped from the bottle. "You get money from Novak, don't you?"

The man laughed again. "My work ain't free."

"...How much?"

"You can't just buy your own freedom. It's not just the money, he's a friend."

"Yeah right..." Greg tried to hold back the tears as hard as he could. He was frustrated, desperate and angry. "You know what he's gonna do to me, right?"

"That ain't my business. Who am I to judge, huh? Now drink up and relax. He'll be here in a few hours." The man walked out, leaving Greg alone again.

* * *

Nick was nervously walking up and down in Spencer's hospital bed, waiting for him to wake up. When he finally he opened his eyes Nick didn't waste any time asking him if he was alright. "Spencer, where is Greg?"

"Easy," Russell said, leaning against the wall of Spencer's room. "He just woke up from surgery, Nick."

Spencer looked around. "I'm at the hospital...?"

Russell walked up to Spencer's bed. "You've been shot, but you're gonna be fine. How do you feel?"

Nick rolled his eyes nervously. He didn't feel like they had any time for small talk.

"I feel good..." Spencer was pumped up with painkillers.

"You were with Greg when you got shot, remember? Where is he?" Nick asked impatiently.

Spencer sighed, trying hard to remember. The drugs clouded his memory a bit. "He uh... He told me about the night I woke up in his bed... That we were drugged that night..."

Russell looked a bit confused to Nick. He heard this story for the first time. Greg didn't want to tell him back then in order to keep Spencer from getting into any trouble. He meant to tell Russell about it later, though.

"He apologized for accus..." Spencer got interrupted by Nick.

"Yeah yeah I know, come to the important part! Where's Greg?"

"I don't know, Nick... I just remember hearing a loud bang and feeling pain in my shoulder... I collapsed and... That's all I remember. I'm sorry..."

"That's okay." Russell gave him a comforting smile while Nick stormed out of the room angrily. "You get well soon." Russell followed him.

* * *

Russell walked up to Nick and gently patted his shoulder.

"He's the only person we thought could tell us what happened and he doesn't remember!" Nick said outraged.

"It's not that he doesn't remember, Nick. He said he collapsed, he was unconscious."

"I know, I just... I put so much hope in it. I thought he would tell us what happened and we could help Greg..." Nick gave Russell a heartbreaking look.

"Let's not give up hope. He's only gone for a few hours. We'll find him, alright? Now come on, let's see if Sara and Hodges found anything."

Nick hesitated to come with Russell. He stood there in front of Spencer's hospital room, his cell phone in his hand and with a weird look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"This is all my fault."

Russell hastily shook his head. "Don't do this to yourself. This is nobody's fault but Novak's."

"No, it is my fault. All this time I've been wondering how they got into Greg's apartment. I think now I know." He showed Russell his phone.

" 'Didn't find it.' What does that mean?"

Nick sighed as he leaned against the wall. "I asked Henry to go to my place and see if Greg's spare key is still there. It's not."

"Nick, I... I don't understand."

"I'm not sure how, but they somehow got into my apartment first, only to get his keys."

"...You're sure? How?"

Nick shrug his shoulder. "Cable guy, electrician, anyone I let in my home the past few weeks... Or months, maybe. It's my fault. I made this possible."


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry it took me so long to update! I was busy like a bee! ...Okay, AND I wanted to enjoy this beautiful weather we have here :)**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter!**

* * *

Greg called for the man with the texan accent. "Please, I need to talk to you!"

After 15 minutes, he walked in. "What the hell, man? I was trying to take a nap. What do you want?"

"I just remembered something... I was with a friend... What happened to him?"

"You shouldn't waste your energy thinking about others, stupid, don't you think?"

"Please..." Greg begged. "I need to know if he's alright."

"I shot him, alright? Now shut up and wait for Neil." He walked out again.

Greg's eyes finally filled with tears. Spencer got shot only because of him, he was sure.

* * *

"Skit marks were found at the scene. A van, probably. It matches with what the witnesses are saying." Sara explained her findings with pictures she took at the scene. They were in the evidence room.

Russell nodded. "Have you talked to any of the witnesses yet?"

"All five of them say the same thing. A man whose description fits Greg was pulled into a blue van. Four of them are sure he was unconscious, one isn't sure."

Nick sighed annoyed. "Great, that's it?"

Sara gave him a look. He wasn't the only one who worried, but sure behaved like it. "We found a syringe at the scene. Henry's figuring out what's been in it and Robin's testing it for Greg's DNA."

"Anything else?" Russell asked with his arms crossed in front of his body.

"Well, nothing else from the scene, but I looked into Neil Novak a bit more. Remember the prison guard working for him? He started the police academy before becoming a prison guard. He dropped out in the first year, though."

"So? What does he have to do with anything?" Nick was getting more and more impatient.

"So... he was in the police academy in Michigan... together with officer Spencer. At first I thought it might be a coincidence, but when I asked some of the officers about it, they confirmed that him and Spencer used to be friends back in Michigan. When Spencer relocated in Vegas, they had contact again. It might be nothing, but I think it's worth looking into it."

"Well... what are you trying to say, Sara? That Spencer has something to do with Greg's abduction?" Nick looked surprised.

"I don't think we can confirm or deny it at this stage, but... Yes, this could mean Spencer has something to do with Neil Novak."

"But he's always been so nice to Greg. They're friends. Why should he want to hurt him?" Russell couldn't grasp the idea of officer Spencer being the bad guy here. Of course, he didn't know everything Sara and Nick knew. Greg confided in the two, but didn't tell Russell all the inconvenient things about his friendship with Spencer.

Sara looked at Nick before telling Russell. "They've been friends, yes, but... Greg always had a bad feeling about him. There have been a few moments he doubted his sincerity." She went on to give Russell a summary of all the things that happened between Greg and Spencer.

"And... How come I hear about this only now?" Russell was confused and a bit angry, almost disappointed.

"Greg didn't want to cause Spencer any trouble."

"Guys, that's unimportant now..." Nick walked out of the room.

* * *

"You let me do the talking, alright? I don't need you to go on at him. We don't know anything yet, it's all just a hunch Sara has." Russell and Nick were driving back to the hospital. They had a bunch of questions to ask Spencer.

Nick rolled his eyes. "Come on, I knew from the start that something about this guy's not right. If anything happens to Greg, I'll never..."

"I'll stop you right there. Try to stay calm, that's the best way to help Greg."

* * *

Greg was slipping in and out of sleep. It had been hours and Novak hadn't showed up yet. It wasn't exactly like Greg was looking forward to seeing him again, but waiting for him to come here was pure torture. He wasn't sure if he was hallucinating or not, but he saw a cell phone lying under the couch. Not knowing if it was real or not, and if it were real, if it would work, he decided to try to get it. To be able to reach it with his feet, he needed to get a few inches closer to the couch. He used all the strength he had left to pull the table in order to get closer. With him already being weakened, and the table being really really heavy, it was a hell of a task. But he was determined. Just a few more inches and he would be able to reach it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Another late update! Too much going on right now, but I'll try to update faster :) Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Where is he?" Nick fiercely walked into Spencer's room, only to find it empty. "...What the hell? Where's Spencer?"

"That doesn't make him look too good..." Russell hurried outside to ask a doctor. He explained that Spencer checked himself out of the hospital half an hour ago. He could barely walk and the doctors tried everything to keep him from doing this, but he didn't let them persuade him.

"God dammit!" Nick yelled as he punched a wall. "He did this!"

Russell could barely keep up with Nick as they were hurrying to the car.

* * *

"We've suspected him of being a dirty cop before and he turned out to be innocent, Nick. Don't forget that," Russell tried to calm Nick down. He was the one driving, and he was going really fast. The sirens were blaring and the blue light was on, but still, Nick was going a little too fast for Russell's taste.

When they arrived at Spencer's place, Nick kicked the door in.

"Jesus!" Spencer exclaimed, jumping off his couch. "What the hell, man?"

"...You're home?" Russell said a little surprised.

"Where is he?" Nick stormed towards Spencer, grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him against a wall.

Spencer released a painful scream. He had just been operated on his shoulder, after all.

"Easy, Nick!" Russell pulled him away from the officer.

Spencer got on the ground, growling in pain. "What the hell is your problem, man? What are you doing here?"

"We know! Stop the act, we know you're working for Novak!" Nick couldn't keep his voice down.

"I... What? Are you insane? Why would you think that?"

"We know you attended police academy together with the prison guard that worked for Novak and you checked yourself out of the hospital against your doctor's orders!"

"...So?" Spencer rubbed his wounded shoulder. "I hate hospitals. Besides, I couldn't stay there useless while Greg was missing."

Russell helped Spencer get up and sit down on the couch. "What about Albert Corbett, the prison guard who worked for Novak? You know him, right?"

"Well... Yeah, we met at the academy... We kept in touch over the years and... I visited him a few times in prison when he was arrested for... you know." Spencer looked angrily at Nick. "But had you done your homework you'd know he only worked with Novak because he was in debt and needed some money."

"So what?" Nick asked annoyed.

"Well you can check out my finances, I don't need any money, you jerk! Besides, Al was a good guy that made a few very bad choices in his life."

"You're kidding, right? A good guy would never work for a lunatic like Novak, no matter what situation he's in. He's a horrible person."

"Was. He died a few weeks ago... Brain aneurysm."

"You want me to feel bad for him now?" Nick was very confrontational right now. He wasn't so sure about Spencer playing any part in this, but he couldn't help change his attitude towards him.

"I don't care if you think he deserved to die in prison or not, Nick. I'm just stating a fact. You can't go talk to him. He's dead and I don't want to believe he was a bad person. Besides, don't forget he wasn't the only guard helping Novak. What about the other guy?"

Just now, both Russell and Nick remembered. Corbett was the guard inside, helping Novak overpower Greg. But there was another one keeping watch outside of the visiting room.

"Don't look at me like that, I don't know him and never did."

Nick looked Spencer up and down. "I'm gonna search your apartment."

"...For what?"

"For anything that could link you to Novak."

"I told you already, I don't work for him! You're only wasting your time!"

* * *

After a while, Greg managed to reach the cell phone. He kicked it near to his hands to pick it up. He pressed the button to turn it on, praying to god that it still had some battery left. His heart beated like crazy. Mere seconds could decide his fate. But of course, this old, dusty cell phone he had in his hands didn't turn on. Desperation was taking over again. He found a phone he couldn't use. He shook his head over the irony when the door opened once again. His heart started racing. But again it wasn't Neil Novak, it was the texan. "Hey, how're ya holdin' up?"

Greg sighed. "Please let me go."

The man looked a bit confused. "What were you doing? Why did you scoot the table over to the couch? You're not comfortable on the ground, heh?"

"I'm losing my mind in here! Please, just untie me and let me go..."

"No can do, my dear. Sorry."

"Then.. then answer my questions... I need to know why and how this is happening."

The texan thought about this for a moment. "Alright. Shoot."

"Did you murder Matthew Willis?"

The man looked at Greg rather questioning, as if he's never heard the name before.

"Matthew Willis. His body was found with a note that said 'You're welcome, Greg'. Did you do this?"

"Ah, now I know what you're talking about. Sure, I did it."

"Why?" Greg's voice cracked as he said that. Willis was a dangerous man, but he didn't deserve to be killed.

" 'Cause I was asked to. He was becoming a threat for Neil's plan and he wouldn't let anyone destroy his plan."

"A threat...? How?"

The texan sighed. "Well, we were pretty sure he might be going after you and hurt you. Either ruin your pretty face or even kill you. Neil wouldn't let either happen."

"That's insane! There was no sign. Willis wanted to leave me alone."

"Then why did he keep following you?"

"...He did?"

The texan nodded. He was straight out lying. Willis had no intention of harrassing Greg anymore.

Greg looked thoughtful for a moment. He thought it was ironic that this man was probably the reason he was still alive. At least that's what he thought. "Okay... Then tell me, how did you get in my apartment?"

"Remember when I said you're too trustful?"

Greg nodded. "...Who was it?"

"Everyone, when you have enough money, I guess." The texan laughed. He looked at his watch a bit nervously. "What else you wanna know?"

"Give me the name. Who gave you access to my home?"

"That would be taking the fun out of it, wouldn't it?"

"...Just tell me!" Greg said angrily. His desperation started to change into frustration and anger. He couldn't think of anyone else who had a key to his apartment except for Nick, and he just couldn't believe that he would have something to do with it. It had to be someone else.

Just now, the texan noticed Greg's wrists. From pulling the table around they were quite sore and even bleeding. "That gotta hurt, man."

"Yeah but that's the least of my problems... Just leave me alone."

"What, come on! You wanted some company."

Greg sobbed. "I don't. Leave."

The texan hesitated for a moment. Then, he walked out. "Alright, try to find something else to do."


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for the reviews and stuff! :)**

**Let's find out if Spencer has anything to do with Greg's kidnapping!**

* * *

While Nick was searching Spencer's apartment, Russell talked to him. "Why did you leave the hospital so soon? You're risking your health, you know that?"

"I had to. I needed to do something to help find Greg," Spencer replied with a sad look on his face.

"And how were you planning to do that?"

"I visited Albert a few days before he died. He was scared of Novak, he was sure if he wanted to hurt him, he'd find a way. Even when both were in different prisons. That's why he couldn't tell me but... I knew he wanted to tell me something."

"Like what?"

Spencer started to whisper. "I think someone at the station was working for Novak, too. Maybe he's still working for him... Maybe..."

"...This person is responsible for what happened to Greg?"

"I think so."

"Why didn't you come forward earlier?"

"Because I wanted to protect Albert. I figured Novak was behind bars and no threat anymore. When Al died, though... I contemplated telling Brass."

"But you didn't."

Spencer sighed. "I didn't want to get anybody in trouble who might be innocent. I know what that feels like and I didn't want anyone else to go through it. It was just a hunch, after all. So I decided to do some investigating myself."

Russell raised his eyebrows. "Did you find anything useful?"

Spencer got off his seat and grabbed a folder out of his bookshelf. He handed it over to Russell. "I tried to link everybody from the station to Novak and got nothing. So I kept thinking... What if the person wasn't from the police station but somebody from the lab?"

"...You're thinking someone from my lab is involved?"

"Well, after all your DNA tech was involved, right?"

"That's different, she..."

"She was in a similar situation like Al was. She was just a bit more lucky than him. That's what Novak does. He uses desperation."

Russell didn't know what to say. Spencer was right, after all. "So... Did you come up with anything?"

"Not yet. That's why I checked myself out of the hospital. I wanted to get to the bottom of this."

Nick walked in. "You should've told us. We could've helped."

Spencer looked to his kicked-in door, then back at Nick. "Yeah, you've proven yourself to be very helpful already."

* * *

Russell, Nick and Spencer spent quite some time trying to figure out who from the lab might be involved with Greg's abduction. They hoped that this person might lead them to their friend. Only problem was, they came up with nothing.

"It's hopeless. We'll never find that person..." Nick was starting to lose faith. "I just can't believe it. I trust these people. I can't believe anyone would do something like that."

"No one would've thought Robin was capable of doing something like that, but she did, didn't she?" Spencer said while looking through some of his files.

"She didn't mean to hurt Greg."

"Oh please. She risked his life. And if something happens to him now... She's to blame."

"It's not helping Greg to discuss these kind of things now. We need to stay focused," Russell said, trying to get them back on track.

Nick sighed as they got back to work.

* * *

"Good news, I got something to keep you busy..." The texan walked in with a weird face. Greg couldn't quite read it, but he knew something about him was off.

"A laptop?" Greg asked confused.

The texan faked a smile. "Sorry, no internet. Just a video I'm supposed to show you..."

Greg had an exhausted look on his face. "Can't you just leave me alone?"

"Sorry, have to." He pressed play and placed the laptop so that Greg could watch.

It showed Novak, sitting in an apartment, with a big grin on his face, drinking a beer. "Greg, my love. I'll soon be with you, don't worry. Just have to take care of some things before..." He kept talking about how he was looking forward to seeing him again, until Greg snapped and kicked the laptop across the room.

The texan just stood there, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed, looking at Greg. After watching Greg breaking down for a couple of minutes, he pushed the couch closer to him so that he could lie down on it. "That's probably a lot more comfortable than the floor, right?"

* * *

After two hours, Nick and Russell came up with something.

"Yeah but we can't be sure. What if this guy doesn't have anything to do with this?" Russell rubbed his forehead.

"What if he does? We have to check this out!" Nick was eager to leave the lab to find out if their person of interest actually was a suspect. A lab intern who started working at the lab a few weeks ago seemed to be rather suspicious. They knew he had some financial problems that got taken care of a few days before Novak broke out of prison. Plus, he was at home ever since Novak got out, claiming to be sick.

"We'll never get a search warrant for his house over a hunch."

"Come on, now, Russell, it's more than just a hunch!"

"I'm afraid a judge would feel different about that."

"Okay, listen. I don't care if we got a search warrant or not, alright? I'd rather find Greg and not be able to prosecute his capturer than not find him but be able to prosecute his murderer!"

"As your boss I have to tell you that our hands are tied..." Russell opened the drawer in his desk. "But as Greg's friend I'd tell you that you'll find the address in my drawer..." Russell left the room, letting Nick know what to do.

* * *

Russell had to stay at the lab while Nick went to the intern's home. He took Sara with him for backup, not knowing what to expect. First, they tried the civilized way of ringing the door bell. When no one answered, they pulled out their guns and kicked the door in. The TV was on and they could smell food being cooked in the kitchen, but no sign of the intern Martin Colfer. Sara and Nick shared a look, both knowing someone had to have been here mere minutes ago. They walked through the small apartment with their guns drawn, looking for Colfer. When Nick walked towards the bathroom, shots were fired in his direction. Him and Sara took cover and Sara quickly called for backup from behind the couch. Nick was taking cover behind a big chair.

"Where's Greg?" Nick yelled. "It's over, Colfer, get out of there!"

After a few silent minutes, Colfer threw his gun out of the bathroom. "Alright, I'm coming out... Please don't shoot!" He walked out with his arms raised and tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry..."

Nick walked up to him, angrily pushing him against a wall and cuffing him. "Where is Greg? Tell me!"

"Nick, watch out!" Sara yelled as she saw a gun being pointed at Nick from inside the bathroom. Nick could take cover at the last second, then the gun was shot in his direction several times.

"Are you alright?" Sara asked from across the room.

Nick panted. "I'm fine. Who's in there?"

Colfer slowly crawled towards Nick and answered once he was able to take cover, as well. "It's Novak," he whispered.

Sara and Nick shared a look again. "Where's Greg?"

"I'm so sorry, I... I didn't have a choice I..." Colfer started rambling.

"Concentrate! How many guns does Novak have in there?"

"Just one... He should be out of bullets... His gun can only hold ten."

Both Nick and Sara were pretty sure they heard ten shots by now. Nick looked over to Sara. "It's worth a shot... Give me backup."

"What? No, Nick! That's too dangerous. Just wait for the SWAT-team!"

"Greg needs us! Come on!" Nick got up and walked towards the bathroom. Sara followed, making sure she could fire when she had to.

Nick slowly opened the door. They found Novak sitting in a corner, with his gun lying next to him. Nick grinned. "I was waiting for this moment..."

"What, you're gonna shoot an unarmed man?" Novak laughed.

"Unfortunately we need you alive. Show me your hands!"

Novak slowly raised his hands, but had a gun in his left one.

* * *

"What do you want me to do now? Come on! No, just let me... But..."

Greg could hear these words from the other side of the door. The texan walked in with a cell phone in his hand and a rather sad, depressed look on his face. Greg knew this wasn't a good sign at all. "What... What's going on?"

Without saying a word, the texan grabbed a chair standing near Greg and forcefully smashed it against a wall. Greg startled surprised. The man sighed as he sat down on the ground, burrying his face in his hands. "This all is getting out of control." He looked at Greg with watery eyes. "Are you from Vegas?"

Greg looked a bit confused.

"Where do your parents live?"

Greg had no idea what this was about, but he figured it would be best to just answer the texan's questions. "California."

"You see them often?"

"Not often enough. I work too much."

"They look like nice people." When he saw Greg's look, he continued. "I saw pictures of them when I was in your apartment. No siblings, huh?"

Greg shook his head.

The texan looked to the ground. "You never knew what it's like to love your siblings, no matter in what kind of trouble they are..."

"...You don't do this only because of the money, don't you? Novak's not a friend of yours... isn't he? Did he hurt your family?" Greg suspected this for some time now.

The texan got off the couch. "Alright, here's the deal. Neil's not coming. They got him."

"...They did?" Greg couldn't believe his ears. Novak wouldn't get another chance to hurt him. "...Thank god..." He started crying tears of joy.

The texan gave Greg a look to let him know that this wasn't a reason for him to think he'd be able to go home just like that.

"...Please, just let me go. There's no need to kill me..."

The texan looked at his gun for a while, then over to Greg.


	7. Chapter 7

**Here it goes again! Thanks for the reviews! I love reading them, but I said that about a thousand times already ;) **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Sara was walking up and down the hospital waiting room nervously. When she heard footsteps approaching her, she turned around. For a second, the frown on her face disappeared and she smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"I called the lab and they told me you were here." Grissom walked up to her and hugged her. "How is he?"

"He's in a coma..." It was hard for her to conceal the bitterness in her words. When she saw Grissom's shocked look, she realized what she'd done. "No! No, not Nick! Neil Novak, the lunatic who was after Greg. Nick's fine, he was wearing a bullet proof vest."

"Thank god..." Grissom sighed relieved.

"It's just, we relied on Novak telling us where Greg is. With him in a coma, there's not much left we can do..."

Nick walked up to them. "Grissom?" he said with a big smile on his face as he hugged him.

"Hey Nicky. I'm glad you're okay."

They had a lot of catching up to do, but had to concentrate on finding Greg first. "Any word from Colfer yet?"

Sara shook her head. "Brass' trying, but he's not talking. He just keeps on repeating how sorry he is."

"Any way I can help?" Grissom asked, worrying about Greg as much as they all did.

* * *

The texan was sitting on the ground again. He had his gun in his hand and kept staring at it.

"I don't deserve this... Please, just let me go." Greg tried to convince the texan that it would be best for the both of them to just release him.

"Stupid police. Stupid, stupid police!" he cursed. "This all could be over by now!"

* * *

Nick took Grissom to Novak's prison cell. Together, they were trying to find anything helping them find Greg. Grissom knew a lot about the case, Sara filled him in. Still, he was shocked when he saw the cell. "That's pictures of crime scenes."

Nick nodded. "Whoever's been stalking Greg was taking these pictures." He sighed as he looked at pictures from Greg's high school days. They had been taken from his home.

"He's not exactly a fan of yours, isn't he?" Grissom pointed at pictures with Nick. Holes had been poked in them.

"Yeah well that's mutual. We'll have to check out his visitor's log and find out who sent him these photos."

* * *

After hours of starvation, the texan finally gave Greg something to eat. Despite being hungry as hell, he couldn't eat much. The fear of what was going to happen now was too big.

"Why aren't you eating up?" the texan asked rather surprised. When Greg didn't answer, he went on, "What, you think I'd waste this meal on you if I'd plan to kill you?"

"...Then what am I still doing here?"

"I still need you."

* * *

"So, what have we got?" Russell, Sara, Brass, Grissom and Nick were meeting in Russell's office.

"No luck at the mail Novak received. He's only allowed to keep mail with a sender on it, but nobody checks if the name and address is legit. And in our case, it's not," Sara explained. "We're checking the handwriting to see if it matches Martin Colfer's.

Nick sighed. "What about his visitors?"

She shook her head. "He didn't have any."

"None at all?"

"Suspicious, I know."

"He's smart. He doesn't want to lead us to his henchmen." Nick rubbed his head frustrated.

Brass' phone rang. He walked out to take the call and came back a few moments later. "This is big!"

* * *

The big thing Brass was talking about was what Novak's doctors found. It was a little piece of paper he had in his pocket. It fell out while he was being prepped for an emergency surgery and they only discovered it now. It had an address written on it and they decided to check it out. Brass, Russell and Nick went, supported by some uniforms. They were confident this hint might lead them closer to Greg, but they had no idea how close they actually were.

When they knocked on the door, it opened. The place was empty. It didn't take them long to discover the room in the basement where Greg has been kept in. But Greg was already gone. All that was left was the laptop he kicked earlier and some blood drops.

* * *

"What do you think?" Brass asked as Russell was looking at the blood drops, taking some samples.

"Well, assuming it's Greg's blood, it's a good sign. It's not a lot, if this is his only injury he might be still alive."

"Come on, man, try harder!" Nick commanded Archie, who was trying to get the laptop working.

"I'm doing my best, Nick, I don't need the extra pressure." After a while, he said, "Got it! Okay, let's see..." He clicked through some files and quickly found the video. His heart seemed to stop beating for a second when he saw Novak talking about Greg.

They all stood there in silence, watching Novak. He got quite explicit about what he wanted to do with Greg. Everybody knew he wasn't able to do that anymore, but still - they were shocked. Hearing what Novak had to say was horrifying. They couldn't bare the thought of what Greg felt like while watching this. It gave them goosebumps. When they reached the end of the video, they all stood there in silence for a moment. They had to digest what they just saw.

"...Alright..." Russell finally broke the silence. "Archie, get the computer back to the lab. Find out about the owner as much as you can. Nick, you and me are going outside, see if there's any trail of where they might be going."

* * *

Greg got out of the texan's car, looking confused at the bar they stopped at. His knees were a little shaky, he was scared and exhausted. His face was a little messed up. After asking the wrong questions, the texan let his anger out on him. He made sure to cover Greg's face with a cap, though, trying not to draw any attention on them.

"You thirsty?" the texan asked as they walked inside. He whispered to Greg as they sat down in a booth, "Make a scene and you won't be the only dead guy in this place, you got that?" Greg nodded fearfully. He didn't really think about trying anything, anyway. "And keep your head down, we don't want anyone to see your face." Before the texan ordered a few drinks and some food, he untied Greg's hands. He didn't seem to care if Greg ate anything, but almost forced the drinks down his throat. "Come on, drink up."

"What are we doing here?" Greg didn't fight back, he drank all three drinks he got served. He figured it would be easier dealing with whatever might happen when he was drunk.

"I just need some courage to be able to go through with my plan..."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! Another chapter to sweeten your Sunday! Have fun!**

* * *

The CSIs were all stressed out and didn't know how to find Greg. Every lead they followed ended up a dead end. Colfer didn't talk and Novak was still in a coma. Archie was working on the laptop they found in the room Greg was kept in, but it took him quite some time. Russell was standing at the coffee machine in the break room, his cup in one hand, the coffee pot in the other, not moving.

"Where's Nick?" Spencer asked while walking in.

Russell startled. He was lost deep in his thoughts. "Oh, hey." He poured some coffee into his cup. "Nick's working with Grissom on some bugs we found."

"Bugs, huh? Will they help us find Greg?"

"Maybe. How's your shoulder healing?"

Spencer nodded. "Can I help somehow? I feel so useless and it's all my fault."

"Don't blame yourself. We're doing everything we can to find him. You just get better, alright?"

Archie joined them. "I'm done with the laptop. There were **a lot** of disturbing pictures on it..." He had a distraught look on his face. He sighed. "But nothing useful for us. Maybe Robin found some DNA that will help us, but I'm afraid I can't help."

Russell nodded thoughtful as Robin walked in. "Three DNA donors on the laptop. Two unknown male DNA, one is of Paul Sorkin. Charged for battery and sexual assault in 2003. After his release from jail he stayed under the radar. Sara's checking for any connections to Novak. Here's his current address."

"Thank you, we'll check him out. What about the blood drops we found?"

Robin sighed deeply. "It's Greg's. I'm sorry. That's all I can tell you about it."

* * *

Greg and the texan were at this bar for almost two hours. Greg had no idea what this was about and he couldn't take another drink, he was already drunk.

"Another round?" the texan asked.

Greg shook his head.

"Come on, don't be a buzzkill. Don't you have fun?"

Greg didn't answer this ridiculous question. He leaned back.

"You're drunk," the texan stated. "You're not a hard drinker, aren't you?"

"Don't tell me you don't have any friends you can go drinking with. What am I doing here?" Due to the alcohol, Greg was getting a little more comfortable talking with his capturer.

The texan smirked. "Well, Neil's plan obviously didn't work out. He wanted to come by the house, have his fun with you and that's it. From the moment he would arrive I would be supposed to be out."

Greg released a very small laugh. "How can you be so indifferent about my fate?"

"That was Neil's plan, not mine."

"So... what was your plan?"

"I would've killed that bastard, hadn't your stupid friends arrested him."

Greg looked quite surprised. He sensed that the texan had some kind of resentment towards Novak – how couldn't he, knowing what kind of person he is. But this came as a surprise. "...What?"

"I saved a bullet for him. Right between the eyes." He smiled.

"What are you talking about? You wanted to kill him? ...Why?"

"...What kind of question is this? The alcohol's really getting to ya, huh? He's a sick bastard. He doesn't even deserve his jail cell."

Greg pressed his hands against his eyes to prevent himself from crying. He propped his arms on the table. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" he almost yelled.

"Would you keep it down? I can't afford everyone staring at us!" The texan rolled his eyes. "I didn't know if I could go through with my plan..."

"You showed me this horrific video... You... Do you have any idea how scared I was?"

"I had no choice. I needed to keep up the act for the cameras."

"...What cameras?" Greg was starting to doubt the texan. Was he really telling the truth? Or was he just trying to soothe Greg, make him think he's safe with him?

"Novak installed some cameras in the room. He wanted to record... well, you know. I risked my ass by being nice to you, giving you something to drink and to eat, you know? I couldn't tell you you were going to be fine."

"...And now? Why am I here?"

The texan gave Greg another drink in his hand. "Drink up. I can't tell you now. You're going to be fine, but we're not done yet."

* * *

Things were progressing quite quickly right now. Russell, Sara and Brass were checking out Sorkin's last known address. Nobody was home so they forced themselves in.

The apartment was very messy and showed signs of a fight. "Grissom and Nick said the bugs we found live somewhere in Australia. I guess this terrarium might explain what they're doing in Vegas." Sara pointed at the terrarium. It was open and there were no insects inside. "Let's just hope there's not a huge spider running around..." She proceeded to take a look inside the terrarium. A few dead bugs were lying in there. She collected them.

"Hey Russell, take a look at this..." Brass said from inside the bedroom. Russell quickly walked inside, Sara followed a few moments later. "Doesn't this place look familiar?" he asked as he pointed at a computer screen. On the screen, it showed the basement where Greg was kept in.

"...Quick, call Archie. He needs to take a look at this computer ASAP."

* * *

"No, I can't... No more..." Greg refused to drink another alcoholic beverage. He was drunk and not feeling well at all.

"It won't take long anymore, anyway..." the texan said as he noticed someone walking inside the bar. "Does the name Drew ring a bell?"

Greg raised his eyebrows. It did. Drew was the young man Novak was telling him about. Novak claimed he loved him, but raped and murdered him. The stranger walked towards him and the texan and sat down opposite them. "That him?"

The texan nodded.

"...Who's this? What's going on?" Greg asked scared. Why would the texan bring up Drew now?

The texan turned to Greg and whispered to him. "Remember what we just talked about. Be calm, don't do anything stupid or you're not the only dead body in here. Got that?"

The stranger looked around. "You couldn't find a more crowded place than this?"

"It's gonna work, trust me."

"Well, he's cute..." The stranger looked Greg up and down with a look on his face that let Greg know he was up to no good. "I get why Novak obsessed with him."

"Come on. Let's get this over with." The texan helped Greg up. He couldn't stand on his own feet anymore, he was too drunk.

"...Where are we going?" Greg asked. He was shaking.

"Just shut up, I don't want to have to hurt you again."

The stranger helped the texan carry Greg outside. Greg tried to fight them off and even yelled something, but all the people at the bar didn't take him serious. He was drunk and they figured that was the reason he was yelling.

* * *

The computer at Paul Sorkin's place was helping them a lot more than the laptop they found earlier. "Okay, we have video footage of Greg right here... See that?" Archie showed the CSIs the moments when the texan and Greg left the room. It also showed him beating the CSI. They all cringed while watching this, but tried to stay focused. "And right there you can see his gun..."

"What does this all mean, though? Is this Paul Sorkin on the tape?" Russell asked confused. "Why would he tape himself?"

"Well, the video solution is really bad but it could be him. Maybe an accomplice was here, watching?" Sara tried to make some sense out of it.

Nick and Grissom walked in. "Found anything yet?" They both watched the video, too.

Archie kept working on the computer when Nick noticed something. "The answering machine... did you guys listen to the messages yet?"

"We didn't even realize there was an answering machine..." Russell picked it up from the floor. Clothes were lying on it, covering the machine up. "Good eye," he said to Nick before pressing play. There were a few messages on it the CSIs had no interest in, but one was from the texan, asking to meet up at the bar he was with Greg at the moment. In this message, he said he wanted to meet up to take care of Greg. This, of course, alarmed the team.


	9. Chapter 9

**Off we go to another chapter! What's gonna happen to Greg? :)**

* * *

"You lied..." Greg slurred as the two men were dragging him over a parking lot near the bar. "You said I was gonna..." Before Greg could finish the sentence, the texan slapped him.

"Shut the hell up. I told you not to make a scene." There weren't any people on the street at this hour right now, but still, the texan didn't want to draw any attention on them.

"Hey Aaron, quick! Help us!" the stranger said to another man, sitting in a car.

He got out but didn't help, he just stood there. Greg couldn't even see him, his vision was too blurred.

"Come on, now. Help us get him in the car," the stranger commanded.

The guy he called Aaron and the texan shared a look before Aaron took out a gun and shot the stranger. Greg dropped to the ground as the stranger dropped down as well. Propping himself up a bit, he stared at the dying man. He hastily crawled a few feet away from him, still staring and shaking out of fear. His stare slowly wandered around the three men.

"This is for Drew, scumbag," the texan said very coldly.

"Again?" Aaron asked.

"No, I think he's done. That's it." The texan turned his head to look at Greg. He walked over to him and bended down to face him. "If your friends manage to keep Neil in jail, I think it's over." He patted Greg on the shoulder. "Sorry 'bout your face. No hard feelings, alright?" Him and Aaron got into the car and drove off. Greg tried to get up and call for help, but he failed. He got dizzy and finally fell asleep.

* * *

Greg awoke the following morning by the rays of sunshine lighting up his face. The sun was shining through the window in his hospital bed. He looked around confused and surprised – he had absolutely no recollection about how he ended up in here, he was just glad he did. He slowly sat up. His head was throbbing from the night, but he still managed to get out of his bed and walk out of the room. It was just a few minutes before 7 a.m. and the hospital was already quite busy. The personell started serving breakfast to the patients. Greg didn't feel like eating now, though. He was sick from all the alcohol he consumed and would've liked to sleep for another few hours, but had to take care of something first. "Excuse me," he said to the nurse at the reception. "I-I... don't know how I got here. Have my friends been informed?"

"Let me check in a minute..." she replied, doing some paperwork first. As he waited, he spotted Nick and Russell entering the hospital. He walked towards them as fast as he could, which wasn't very fast at the moment.

"Greg!" Nick exclaimed joyful, walking up faster, too, and hugging his friend. "What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be in your room?"

Russell hugged him, as well. "Good to see you up and awake."

* * *

They walked Greg back to bed and started explaining what happened last night. "You were already gone when we figured out where to look for you. But the people in there told us about the shot they heard, so we went to check it out. You were lying there next to that guy..."

Greg nodded thoughtful.

"But... that's all we know. You'll have to fill in the blanks," Nick said with a smile on his face.

"Well, I..." Greg thought carefully before going on. "I don't really remember anything after I left the basement. I'm sorry."

"Did he drug you again?" Russell asked concerned.

"I guess so."

"We know you need your rest, but we'd like to show you a picture if that's okay with you?"

Greg hesitated at first, but then nodded.

Russell pulled out a picture of Paul Sorkins. He was the dead guy. "Is this the guy who captured you?"

"My memory's pretty messed up at the moment, but... I think that's him," Greg replied.

"Alright then... Get some rest and get better. We're going to talk to your doctor, but we'll come by later."

Greg smiled at them. "Oh, wait. Spencer... How is he?"

Nick patted Greg's shoulder. "He's fine. Already out of the hospital."

* * *

In the following days, Greg learned that Neil Novak was in a coma. He also learned that a lab intern was the one helping him. He met Grissom and all of them had dinner together. For a few days, Greg's world seemed to be getting back to normal. He processed the last events as good as possible, but still, his friends worried about him. He was acting a little weird, almost too upbeat, considering the circumstances.

"Hey Greggo," Nick said as he walked into the break room. Greg was already back at work, after taking only one week off. He insisted to come back already. "What's up?"

"I'm just going over some paperwork. Russell wants this by the end of the day."

"About your case?"

"Nope. My report for the Novak case," he replied without many emotions. This made Nick rather suspicious.

"So, you're doing alright?"

"Mhm."

"Been to the department's shrink yet?"

"Yeah, on friday."

"That's quick. You needed to get things off your chest quickly, huh?"

"Nah, just wanna get this over with."

Nick gave him a confused look.

Greg leaned back, sighing. "It's not like there's much to talk about, you know. I don't remember it all too well. I was drugged up."

"There must be something you can tell us about Sorkin. Any idea why he did this?"

Greg shrugged his shoulder rather desinterested. "Dunno. Doesn't really matter since he's dead, huh?" he chuckled a bit. Again, he received a rather confused look. "Look, you want me to feel bad about this? Be all depressed and traumatized? I'm sorry, I'm not. It was horrible but I survived it. Novak's in a coma, he won't be able to hurt anyone anytime soon and... The person who captured me is dead."

"Well, we still don't know where his accomplices are."

"...Accomplices?" Now, Greg was showing a lot of emotion. He was shocked, almost scared. "What are you talking about?"

To protect Greg, they didn't talk too much about the case and left out any details he didn't ask for. "Oh, right, you don't know. We're sure he had at least one accomplice. The room you were in was observed by a camera, we found the recordings on Sorkins computer."

"...You found the recordings?" Greg's face was getting pale.

"...Are you alright? Do you need to lie down or...?"

"No." He shook his head. "What are you talking about? Why am I only hearing about this now?"

"We didn't want to upset you with every perverted detail. I'm sorry. He filmed you the whole time..."

Greg was getting very nervous. "So... you saw his face on tape?"

"No, it's a very bad solution and filmed from far away, we can't really make out any faces. It's without audio, it's a really crappy webcam."

He was calming down a bit.

"...That's your first question? Aren't you interested in what **you're** doing on that tape?"

Of course not. He already knew. "Sure... What am I doing on there? ...Anything bad...?"

Nick shook his head. "He didn't touch you, if that's what you're wondering."

Greg didn't seem too interested in Nick's answer since he already knew. There were other things he worried about. "Are you sure about the accomplices? Maybe he just wanted to tape it for himself or Novak..."

Nick gently patted Greg's back. "Don't worry about it. We'll find them and they'll be brought to justice. They won't get a chance to hurt you."

That really wasn't Greg's concern. What he was concerned about was that he was straight out lying when he told Russell and Nick that Paul Sorkin was the one capturing him. His memory was perfectly fine about the whole ordeal, he just didn't want them to know what really happened. "I wouldn't waste my time and resources chasing after some guys that might not even exist."

"Yeah but we still don't know how Sorkin died."

"It was probably me."

"The GSR on your hand could be from days ago when you fired your gun. You were drunk and drugged, I don't think you could've even fired a gun."

"Don't try to take the guilt off my shoulders. I'm fine with it. He was a scumbag." Of course, Greg would have problems dealing with killing anyone. But he knew it wasn't him. "I'm fine, alright? Don't worry about me." He walked out with a smile on his face, causing Nick to wonder even more if his friend was alright.


	10. Chapter 10

**Another one! Have fun! Greg's out of the woods, but what's going on with him? What's with all the lies? :)**

* * *

Nick let his colleagues know about his worries for Greg. Russell agreed, he felt Greg was acting a little too happy. Sara agreed that Greg was probably not feeling as great as he claimed he did, but thought it would be for the better to give him some time to process the events the way he needed to. Russell and Nick thought she was right, but Nick couldn't quite keep his promise of not pushing Greg into talking to him. Him and Greg were on the way to the hospital. Greg wanted to see Neil Novak and Nick offered to accompany him. "So, why do you want to see him?"

"I think it will help me, you know? I'll only believe he's in a coma when I see it myself," Greg replied jokingly. He then went on to talk about trivial stuff, but Nick wouldn't let this subject go just now.

"Mhm... So... How's therapy going?"

"Good."

"Yeah? Because I talked to the shrink, he said you won't talk to him."

"You did what? Nick, how dare you? Therapy sessions are something private!"

"Relax. I only asked him if there was any need to worry about you and he told me you won't even talk to him, you just sit there, killing the time. He's worried about you."

"The reason I don't talk to him is that I don't need therapy. I'm feeling good. I already told him that."

"Therapy used to help you, didn't it?"

"Yeah but it's different this time. I processed what happened the moment it was over. It was horrible but helped catch Novak again. And two of his henchmen."

"I'm sorry, but I don't believe you. I just can't. You went through a lot lately and it seems like you feel better now than you did before you were kidnapped."

"Yeah. That's because I do." Nick looked quite surprised at Greg. "...The road, Nick. Watch it!" Greg sighed. "I'm sorry I don't feel like you expect me to, but... It's over. Why should I feel bad about it?"

"I don't want you to feel bad, but I expect you to. I think you might be blocking it out. That's not healthy."

"I don't even remember most of it, maybe that's what's helping me."

"So you're fine with this?"

"Yup."

"Well, then let me ask you a question... About the camera we found?"

Now it was Greg who looked surprised. "...Sure, what about it?"

"How come you always react all nervous when I mention it?"

"I-I do not..." he stuttered.

"Please, I know you long enough to notice these things."

"It's just embarrassing, you know? Knowing you all watched it..."

"Do you want to watch it?" They arrived at the hospital, but neither one of them got out of the car.

"...Why should I?"

"I don't know... I think I would want to."

"I already went through it once, no need to rewatch it, don't you think?"

"Sure..." Nick raised an eyebrow. "But you said you didn't remember most of it, huh?"

Greg nodded. He was getting more nervous and it was obvious.

"What's going on, Greg? You can talk to me, you know that. You really don't remember it all?"

Greg had a shocked look on his face. He feared Nick might blow his cover. "...It doesn't really matter what happened that day, okay? It's over, that's the important part."

"Is there something you don't tell us?"

Lying to his friends has been really hard on Greg and he didn't think he could do it any longer. He hoped the questions would stop, but Nick was obviously onto something and wouldn't let this go. "It's better for you not to know... okay? I'm feeling alright, that's the important part. Can we please keep this behind us?" Greg opened the door and wanted to get out of the car, but Nick kept him from doing so.

"Whatever it is, I'll understand. You know that, right?"

Greg nodded. He didn't think Nick would understand, though.

* * *

Greg was standing in the doorframe of Neil Novak's hospital room. Novak was intubated, hoses were sticking out of his body on all different kind of places. It was a weird, overwhelming scenery for Greg and he didn't know how to handle this. He stared at Novak for several minutes, eyeing him up and down. He didn't even hear the beeping noise the breathing machine made until he decided to leave the room. He walked back to the lobby, where Nick was sitting and waiting for his friend. Greg sat down next to Nick, nervously giggling. "He's... he..." His giggle quickly turned into crying. Nick put his hand on Greg's back, comforting him. They sat like that for almost half an hour.

* * *

The next day, Greg was really quiet. He didn't talk much and didn't look as happy as he did the previous days. Seeing Neil Novak was getting to him quite a bit. He also felt bad about lying to his friends and needed to talk to the DA today. Plus, there was another thing he had his mind on. He was sitting in the break room looking rather thoughtful when Nick and Russell walked in. They greeted him, but didn't talk to him. Sitting down, they started working on a case. Nick didn't really quite concentrate, he kept looking over to Greg. Russell noticed this pretty quickly and decided to act on it. "Alright. I'm gonna check this out now. Come by my office in five, alright?"

Nick nodded and watched Russell leave. "What are you looking at? ...Apartments?"

Greg was sitting in front of a laptop. He nodded. "I decided it's time to find a new place."

"...Really?" Nick asked a bit surprised. There's been a lot going on in Greg's home over the years, but neither one of these things made him move out.

"Yeah. I don't feel comfortable at home anymore. Besides, a change is good, right?"

Nick nodded. "Found anything yet?"

"There's a nice place near my old apartment I want to check out tomorrow. I still like the neighborhood, I just... Need to get out of this apartment, you know?"

Nick smiled. "I think it's a great idea."

* * *

Nick had decided to take Sara's advice and drop the subject, he didn't want to talk to Greg about the Novak case anymore, but the way he was acting now made him change his mind. Both of them were working in the evidence room on some evidence from Nick's case. Greg had finished his case faster than expected and had some time on his hands. "These shoes don't match the shoe impression from the scene," he said in a very calm, almost sad voice.

Nick put down the things he was working on. "Are you alright?"

"Hm? Sure." Greg wanted to go on about the case, but Nick stopped him.

"I thought about what you said. That it was better for me not to know something?"

"Not today, Nick, I..."

"I don't think it's fair of you to decide whether or not I should know something. I'm pretty sure I could handle it."

"Just drop it, Nick. Please."

"No. I can see you suffer. If I can help you I'll do it. Just tell me what's on your mind. Why are you feeling so sad?"

"I'm not sad, I... It was just though seeing Novak that way and..."

"And what?"

Greg shook his head.

"No, you can tell me. You know that."

He shook his head again. "I can't. I need to protect..."

"Greg, come on! You don't need to protect me from anything!"

"No, I do. I need to protect you and... myself."

Nick raised his eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing... I don't make any sense right now..." Greg rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Nick, I have to go talk to the DA in half an hour... I better get going now..." He rushed out of the room, leaving Nick confused.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! Usually it's the other way around, but it's my birthday today and I want to give you a little treat! So here's the next chapter, I hope you like it!**

**If you want to get me something for my birthday, how about a Review letting me know what you think of the story? :)**

* * *

"Mr. Sanders, what can you tell us about the moment you got abducted?" the DA, Karl Hader, asked. Him, Greg and Russell were sitting in the his office. Since Novak was in a coma and Paul Sorkin was dead, the lab intern, Martin Colfer, was the only one they prosecuted.

"I don't remember it. I just know I was with a friend, officer Spencer, when it happened. He got shot and... the next thing I remember is waking up in that basement."

Hader showed Greg a picture of Sorkin. "Is that the man who abducted you?"

Greg looked at Russell for a moment. "I think so."

"But you can't confirm it?"

"I was drugged with Roofies. It messes with your memory. I know I've seen him, but I don't think I could testify in court, saying I know this is him."

The DA shared a look with Russell. "Well, this probably won't be necessary, anyway. What else do you remember from when you were in that basement?"

He shook his head. "Not much. There was a cell phone under the couch... I reached it but couldn't turn it on and... this phone was all I concentrated on."

"What happened with it?" The DA went through the files. "I don't think it was collected at the scene." He looked at Russell questioning to find him shook his head.

"I put it in my pocket. It was gone when I woke up in the hospital. I don't know where it went."

"Mr. Sanders... Did you see any other people besides the man capturing you?"

Greg thought carefully before answering. "No. Like I said before, I don't remember much at all, but I didn't see anyone else."

"Do you remember anything that happened after you left the basement?"

"I'm afraid I don't."

"The effects of Roofies get worse when mixed with alcohol. He had a high blood alcohol level when he was found..." Russell explained, trying to support Greg.

"You got drunk with him?" Hader raised an eyebrow.

"...I was forced to."

"How do you know?"

"Excuse me?"

"You said you don't remember anything from that time. How do you know you were forced?"

Greg looked quite confused at Russell. "I know this because I know I wouldn't drink for fun in a situation like this. Am I being interrogated here or questioned about my abduction?" He got quite aggressive.

"Greg, calm down. He's just asking some questions." Russell tried to calm him down again.

"Did you shoot Paul Sorkin?"

"Probably. I don't know."

Russell chimed in. "Checking him for gunshot residue wasn't our main priority when he was found. We wanted him to get medical attention as quickly as possible. We performed a positive test later, but we can't confirm whether or not it was from shooting Sorkin or from firing his gun on the job."

Hader took some notes while Russell was talking. "You don't seem to care about it all too much, don't you?"

"It's not like I can change anything about it, can I?" Greg was answering quite snotty at the moment. He felt like he needed to defend himself. It wasn't the DA's intention to give him that feeling at all, but since he was lying it felt that way.

"The gun that was used to shoot Sorkin didn't match the bullet the doctors collected from your friend officer Spencer. Any explanation for that?"

Before Greg could answer, Russell took over. "Come on, how is he supposed to know that? We don't have an explanation for that, either. We know about the possibility of more people being involved, but how should he know?"

"Mr. Russell, I just want to make sure we're doing everything we can to stop Neil Novak's work. He's been connected to lots of sex offenders like Sorkin and we'd like to make sure Sorkin was the end of the line."

"I understand that, but I ask you to be a little more sensitive. Greg's been through a lot, he doesn't need to be questioned about this over and over when he doesn't even remember. He doesn't know anything about it. If he would, I'm sure he'd gladly help you."

* * *

The DA had a few more questions until it was finally over. On their way to the car, Russell decided to ask Greg some questions, himself. "What was that in there?"

Greg knew exactly what Russell was talking about, but he pretended not to. "What do you mean?"

"Why were you reacting aggressively towards his questions? You know how these things work, you've been through this before."

"A few minutes ago you were supporting me. I **have** been through a lot, give me a break!"

"Don't think I'm stupid, alright? You were lying in there. Do you have any idea what could happen if anyone finds out?" Greg didn't answer, he just got into the car, but Russell wasn't done talking yet. "What are you hiding, Greg?"

"Nothing."

"Look at me and say that again."

Greg turned his head to look at Russell. "It's been a terrible experience and I try to forget the things I remember, okay? Can we please stop talking about this? I'm the victim here, why does everyone keep acting like I'm a suspect?"

Russell started the car as he sighed. "I'm sorry... Whatever it is you're hiding... don't let it break you."

* * *

Both Nick and Russell suspected that Greg left some significant parts of his story out so they decided to take a closer look at the case again. Since the case was more or less closed and the lab was stacked up, most of the evidence hadn't been processed yet. Nick decided to process Greg's blood on his break, trying to get some answers while Russell took care of other evidence.

"What are you doing in here?" Henry asked confused as he walked in on Nick printing out the results.

"Nothing, just helping you with your workload," he replied.

"...Does Russell know about this?"

Nick grabbed the result and read it. "...Dammit." He quickly left the room.

* * *

"Explain this!" Nick walked up to Greg in the locker room rather aggressively.

"What is this? ...Tox results?" Greg asked a bit confused. He had no idea what Nick was talking about.

"How can you be so stupid? What the hell were you thinking?" Nick grabbed Greg's shirt and pushed him against a locker.

"Nick! Wha...?" Greg looked at Nick rather scared. Being traumatized a few too many times in the past, he couldn't even fight him off, he froze up.

"Do you have **any** idea in what kind of trouble you're getting yourself with a lie like that?" Nick tried hard to whisper, but his voice was getting louder than planned, anyway. He held up the tox results to show Greg.

He read it and finally understood what was going on. Nick let go off him and they looked at each other for a moment. "Nick, I... I can explain."

"You better."


	12. Chapter 12

**Up for another chapter? :)**

* * *

Both men decided it was best not to talk about this in the lab, so they went to a diner nearby. They sat down opposite of each other and ordered some coffee. Nick had calmed down a bit, but was still agitated. "I'm sorry I was getting rough with you. I know you're sensitive to physical violence these days and... I shouldn't have. But... What in the hell were you thinking? You lied to us. To all of us,even the DA."

"I just used the opportunity when I realized there was no evidence of any assistants..."

"So you weren't drugged at all? You remember everything?"

"...Yes. He only used drugs when he kidnapped me, but none after that point."

"I should've known! You asked about how Spencer was doing... You shouldn't even have known he'd been shot..." Nick shook his head. "So... you didn't shoot Sorkin?"

"No."

Nick rubbed his eyes. It was a lot to process. "I don't believe it... You lied... why would you?"

"I thought about it a lot. These two don't belong in a jail cell."

"How would you know? You don't know these guys! And one of them shot Spencer, forgot about that?"

"Yeah but I don't think he wanted to kill him... Nick, I don't expect you to understand. That's why I didn't want you to know. And because I needed to protect you. Novak is a horrible person. He hurt a lot of people out of pure joy. Paul Sorkin was a scumbag as well. I've seen the look on his face. I know what he was up to when he wanted to take me with him. These two guys saved my life. So I figured it wouldn't hurt anyone if I acted like I didn't remember anything." Greg explained everything to Nick calmly. He knew he was upset, but it felt good to be able to tell him. "It was hard for me to lie to you guys, but I think it was the right thing to do."

"Lying to CSIs and DAs is **never** the right thing to do, Greg. This could hurt you **a lot**, you know that."

"These test results don't prove anything, you know that. The alcohol level alone would be enough to have a blackout. I received several blows to the head, I was deeply traumatized... All these things can cause memory loss. They can't know whether or not I remember anything unless I tell them."

Nick had a shocked look on his face. Greg was so unlike himself right now it scared him. It didn't seem like an impulse Greg just followed. He thought this through. Carefully. "It's not up to you to decide whether or not these two guys should be prosecuted or not. They killed Sorkin, kidnapped you and beat you up! How does that make them the good guys?!"

"They killed him to save me! And I'm supposed to throw them in a jail cell? Come on, Nick, that's crazy. I don't have a right to decide their fate, but twelve jurors who'll only know half the story do?!"

"...Crazy, that's the word I was looking for. **You're **crazy! You're risking your career, your freedom, even, to protect these guys?"

"They were just at the wrong place at the wrong time, just like Robin and her girlfriend were... and just like I was. Why does Robin get a free pass while they have to serve time?"

"If you'd have done the right thing and reported them to us they would've gotten a chance to defend themselves. With you as a witness they would've gotten a real chance."

Greg laughed humorlessly. "You're being naïve."

"Besides, you didn't agree to lie for Robin and her friend, what's the difference?"

Greg shrugged. "I don't know. It was different back then. There wasn't even a way to cover this up. But this time... I just used the opportunity..."

Nick had a sad look on his face. "I don't know what to say, Greg. I don't even recognize you anymore. A year ago... you'd never would have done something like that."

"Well, a lot happened since then."

The look on Greg's face let Nick know that his friend had been jaded by the recent events. He worried about him. "What am I supposed to do with these results now?"

"Hand them in. I don't want you to get in any trouble."

Nick looked thoughtful into his coffee cup.

"I'm sorry if I disappointed you, Nick, but I did the right thing. He seemed like a good guy that got into trouble and wanted to make it right again."

"That's not your problem, Greg. He decided to kill Sorkin. He shouldn't have taken the law into his own hands, he should've let the police take care of it."

Greg laughed humorlessly again. "Yeah, they did a pretty good job with Novak, huh? The law did the right thing and locked Novak up, but that almost didn't keep him from killing again, didn't it?"

Nick could see the fear and anger in Greg's face. He started to understand why Greg lied, but he still didn't think it was alright to do so. "There's been a lot of cases where I would've liked to do something similar like that, to protect good people who were forced to do something bad. But I never acted on it. And you shouldn't have, either."

"You've never been the victim in these cases, Nick. I have. It's different." He made a short break, then went on. "Do you remember Drew, the guy Novak was talking about? I think he was one of the guy's brother. They wanted revenge for him. Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't know what that feels like."

"I had the chance to kill McKeen after he killed Warrick, but I didn't do it. I know what it feels like to **want **revenge, but I didn't do it."

"And now tell me you never regretted your decidision."

Nick didn't know what to say. Greg was right, after all.

"I'm not trying to find any excuses, but I went through hell because of Novak. Twice." When he noticed the sad look on Nick's face wouldn't fade, he tried to cheer him up. "I'm still the same guy I was before." He gave him a smile.

"I don't get it. You looked so happy when you had this big, awful secret." Nick shook his head.

"I wasn't happy about the secret, but it felt good to know that Novak and his friends were not able to do any harm anymore."

"How do you know that there aren't any left?"

"I don't. But I hope so. At least they don't have Novak to turn to when they need him."

Nick reached out his hand to rest it on Greg's shoulder. "I worry about you. I'm thinking about telling Russell about this..."

Greg hastily shook his head. "No, he can't know about this. I don't want him to get into any trouble."

"You've been with this guy for hours. It's normal to have positive feelings toward him, it's..."

"It's not Stockholm Syndrome. I don't have any positive feelings towards this guy. I just know he didn't want to hurt me."

"Come on, take a look in the mirror! Look at your wrists! He **did** hurt you!"

Greg smiled. "He was frustrated, I get that."

Nick just remembered something. "One of them might've killed Matthew Willis..."

Greg shook his head. "The texan said Sorkin did. And I believed him."

"Because you wanted to. You're talking yourself into this idea that these guys are good people, but you can't know. Except for killing Sorkin to save you, they did nothing to prove you they're good people."

"No, I don't believe this because I want to. I **have** to. I can't undo what I've done and I don't want to, either." This wasn't entirely true. Greg did regret what he did to some extend. He knew it was the right thing, but it didn't feel like it was, anymore.

Nick shook his head with sadness. "One day you'll wake up and regret this. You'll wish you'd never done it but it'll be too late."

* * *

Nick didn't show the result to Russell, he just put it in the file, hoping his supervisor wouldn't pay too much attention to it. But of course, being the experienced CSI he was, he did notice it. He didn't jump to any conclusions like Nick did, but he wanted to talk about it with him. "I'm surprised he didn't have any drugs in his system aside from the alcohol."

Nick nodded. "He isn't a hard drinker, the alcohol was probably enough for him to forget."

"Maybe it's a psychological issue. His mind might protect him by forgetting..." Russell looked at the results thoughtful.

"Mhm... maybe. He also received several blows to the head..." Nick said, repeating what Greg had told him earlier. "It's best to leave him alone, though."

"...Huh? I don't understand, you wanted to keep an eye on him."

Nick cleared his throat as he sat down in Russell's office. "I know but... I changed my mind. I think Sara's right, he needs some time to process..."

Russell raised an eyebrow. "I can't have two of my guys lying to me, Nick."

"What?!" Nick felt caught. Did Russell know more than he led on?

"It's obvious Greg's hiding something. I told him before, I know when he's lying. I just haven't figured out yet what it is he's hiding. And now you're keeping something from me. I need to be able to trust you guys."

"You can. You're reading too much into this, Russell."

"Come on, Nick, talk to me. You know something, don't you?"

"...It's better to give it a rest."

"He lied to the DA, didn't he?"

Nick didn't answer.

"Does he remember more than he's telling us?"

"Russell, do yourself a favor and stop digging. You won't like what you find. I wish I wouldn't have found it..."

Russell laughed a bit. "You're only making me more curious. He's protecting someone, right?"

"...Will you stop it already?" Nick got off his seat. Russell kept on guessing and finally got the right answers. He didn't react the way Nick expected him to. "...That's all you have to say to this? 'Well, then' ?!"

Russell got up to close the door. "You're the only one who knows about this?" When Nick nodded, he went on. "Then Greg doesn't remember anything."

"...What?! Russell!"

"I don't like what he did, but I understand him. He's protecting himself. This way, he doesn't have to go through another trial again. He can put this behind and get on with his life."

"But... He's probably helping criminals get away!"

"You know as good as I do that most of Novak's henchmen were decent citizens who made a wrong turn in life, getting themselves in trouble."

"You sound like him... Imagine one of them killing someone! This would be on Greg, I don't think he could deal with this!"


	13. Chapter 13

**It's already time for the last chapter of this story! I hope you enjoyed it! I'm already writing on a few new stories, stay tuned to find out which one will be next :)**

**Thanks for reading! **

**Kisses and Big Love,**

**pikapikatchu**

* * *

Nick's words got to Greg pretty quickly. He was quite sensitive to criticism and started to wonder if Nick was right. He was sitting at a computer when Nick walked in. "Hey, what are you doing there?" He walked towards him to take a look at the screen. "...What... What are you doing? Greg. no."

"I need to do this...", he replied without looking up from the screen.

"Greg, get away from the computer."

"What? No, I have to know..." He kept on typing.

"I won't say it again. Step away." When Greg didn't react, he went on. "I was just angry, there's no need to risk your career over this! Step away now!"

Greg rolled his eyes and kept on typing. "Just leave the room, no one saw you... If anyone finds out you're..."

"You can be such a... Get away from there!" Nick pushed Greg's chair to the side, grabbed himself a chair and sat down in front of the computer. He logged Greg out of the lab's system.

"Nick, I don't want to fight, I just want to know if I made a mistake. Please." Greg was talking quietly, without sounding aggressive.

Nick, on the other hand, sounded quite outraged. "You can be so stupid, you know that?" He logged himself in and started typing in the same as Greg just did.

"What are you doing?" He rolled his chair closer to Nick to get a better look at the screen.

"No one will ask any questions if I'm doing some background search on the case. They'll have a lot of questions when you do, though," he said without taking his eyes off the screen.

"Thank you," Greg said quite surprised.

Nick took his eyes off the screen for a moment to smile at Greg, then looked back at it. "There it is. All there is to know about this Drew guy. Drew Byrne, 29 years old when he died..."

"He had two brothers and a sister. Aaron, Eric and Mara..." Greg said with a sad look on his face. "Eric was the guy who... captured me," he whispered. "Aaron was there when they shot Sorkin. They took off together." Both men sat there in silence for a second. "Can you imagine what they had to go through? Their brother being murdered by this monster..."

Nick clicked through their files. "No priors. All three of them."

Greg sighed relieved. "Aaron's a law student and Eric's a nurse. Sister's a teacher." He looked at Nick. "They're not bad people. They..." Greg started crying. "They didn't deserve what happened to their family..."

Nick patted him on the shoulder. "I get it. But you shouldn't have lied."

"Nick, Eric wasn't even sure he would be able to go through with it. He was scared, I saw it in his eyes. Please, let's give it a rest. No one will ever find out. What's the harm?"

"They murdered..."

Greg quickly interrupted him. "They shot a murdering sex offender. You put one in a coma. How's that any difference?"

"It **is** different." Nick sighed. "But what's done is done. Let's just hope they'll keep living their low-key, normal lives and will never do anything criminal." Bitterness could be heard in Nick's words. He was disappointed in his friend although he knew he'd probably done the same. He wasn't even quite sure why he was so disappointed, he didn't know that the fear of losing his friend was still prominent and clouding his judgment. Eric Byrne could've killed Greg and he despised that man for that, despite having good reason to put him in that dangerous position in the first place.

* * *

Now that Greg knew that the people he lied for were good people, he was feeling a lot better. It burdened him not to know whether or not he helped criminals get away. There was one thing he still felt bad about, though, so he decided to do something about it. He made a one-hour drive outside of Vegas to visit Eric Byrne at the hospital he was working at.

Eric walked into an exam room, thinking he'd find a patient there, waiting for him. "Hello. I'm Eric, I'm gonna..." He stopped talking as soon as he saw Greg sitting on a gurney. The bruises from Eric's beating were still visible on his face and his wrists were still in bandages for being wounded by the rope Eric used to restrain Greg with. Still, he had a calm smile on when nurse Eric walked in.

"Hi Eric."

"...I was waiting for someone from the police to come, but I didn't think you'd come here yourself..." He put the medical tools he had in his hand on a desk, grabbed a chair and sat down opposite Greg. He opened the bandages and looked at the CSIs wrists. "They seem to be healing quite good."

Greg nodded. "Did your sister know what you were up to?"

Eric didn't answer. She knew. In fact, it was her idea, but he didn't want to get her into trouble. "What do you care about her? I'm responsible. My siblings didn't do anything wrong." He went on to clean the wounds.

"I know. I'm not here to arrest you."

Eric gave him a surprised, almost disbelieving look. "So this is just a friendly visit?" He chuckled, not believing him.

"No one knows I'm here and no one will ever find out. I told the police I didn't remember what happened. They think Paul Sorkin, the guy you shot, kidnapped me. I made them believe I shot him and that there weren't any accomplices left."

"...You're lying. Why would you do that?"

"Because I want you guys to be able to go on with your lives. Novak took your brother's life and changed yours forever. I didn't want to have any part in his work."

Eric's eyes watered. He just wouldn't believe Greg, it all sounded way too good. He shook his head. "You didn't lie for us... did you?"

"They'll never be able to prove I remember, will they?" Greg smiled at him.

"...Why did you come here? ...What do you want from me in return?"

"Just one thing." He gently put his hand on Eric's shoulder once new bandages were put around his wrists. "Let it go. Leave it all behind. The anger, the fear, anything. Drew'd want you to be happy. Don't let Novak get the better of you."

Eric started crying. "Why are you being so nice? I'm responsible for the worst day of your life."

"No, you're not. Novak is. I was dwelling in my misery way too long, it's time to look forward. We'll never be able to forget what he did to us, but letting it change our lives for the worse is only giving him power over us. I just came here to tell you you don't have to worry about the police. They found your DNA and finger prints on some evidence, but they have nothing to compare it to. As long as you and your siblings stay under the radar, you have nothing to worry about." Greg got off his seat. "Good luck to you and your family."

"Wait. I... I don't know what to say. How to thank you. How to... make up for what I did."

"Don't make me regret my decision, that's all I want from you." As Greg left the room, Eric kept on crying. He didn't feel like he deserved Greg's forgiveness, but it felt good to know he had it.

* * *

Another day had passed and Greg was walking through the halls of the crime lab. He had something on his face his friends hadn't seen for a while, even if most of them didn't realize it. A genuine, carefree smile. He meant what he said to Eric. He wanted to leave the past behind him and go on with his life. Nick still had a hard time dealing with the fact that Greg lied to the police and the D.A., despite knowing deep in his heart that Greg did the right thing. Still, it changed the way he saw his friend forever. Greg had matured, but along with this process came the loss of a piece of his innocence that, Nick thought, was an important part of Greg's personality.

* * *

Ende.


End file.
